Lou Dobbs announced on air Wednesday November 11, 2009, his decision to leave CNN effective immediately, a media company he helped create.

“Over the past six months, it has become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us, and some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving as well as to contribute positively to a better understanding of the great issues of our day and to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible,” Dobbs said.

Welcome to the rest of your life, Mr Dobbs. Yes, there is life after CNN.

Just ask any former CNN iReporter who is conservative (of which I am one) about those “strong winds of change [that] have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us.”

Many of us who have moved on to carry the banner of advocacy citizen journalism elsewhere, clearly see the growing domination of the “my way or the highway” liberal agenda and its ever increasing bullying and divisive behavior at CNN which bills itself as a so-called straight-news oasis.

CNN is clearly a straight-socialism oasis and as such is being rejected as a valid news source by the majority of America.

The Socialist Movement in the United States, at it’s highest levels in Government, is trying to dominate the message through its domination of the Media. It’s dominance of CNN and NBC/MSNBC is clearly seen and rejected by the majority of America. Thus, these media companies continue to loose market share, thus advertising revenues, on a continuing basis.

I believe there will be further polarizing within the big players in the cable media game…

I have money on Geraldo Riveria finding a new home at CNN at some point in the future… perhaps as your ultimate “replacement,” Mr Dobbs.

Geraldo Rivera is a very obvious minority bandwagon self-promoter, of the ilk of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who dove tails perfectly with CNN.

UPDATE: CNN Announced a few hours ago, as of this writing, that John King, a Political Anchor and husband of a CNN reporter/anchor Dana Bash, is slated to assume the prime time slot previously occupied by Lou Dobbs.

33 Responses to Lou Dobbs – moving his advocacy journalism elsewhere; Walks away from CNN, a sinking ship; UPDATE: John King is replacement

I will be adding this video to the blogpost… I cant right now because editing the blog short circuits the process of doing the pingbacks… wordpress is slow at times getting the pingbacks list finished and editing appears to halt it.

Lou is going to land on his feet. When some nut job takes shots at your home and threatens your family it’s time to get out. CNN is a sinking ship and he will do much better elsewhere. I hope he will eventually become part of the Fox lineup. I think he would feel right at home there as long as he avoids Geraldo. lol

Now that more banks are preparing to repay billions of dollars in TARP money, what is the government planning to do with it?

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told CNBC Asia Thursday that the government will be able to pay down more debt and borrow less than initially expected because more banks are repaying money to the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. He added that he expects “substantial repayments” by banks in the coming weeks.

The Obama administration is still debating that idea, the Wall Street Journal reported, saying some officials would like to keep some of the unspent money in case of emergencies.

A US Treasury source also told Reuters that it was shifting the focus of the TARP program toward helping small business and the housing sector rather than large banks.

“As that focus shifts, we expect to use significantly less TARP funding than authorized,” the source said. “We will maintain the flexibility to deal with a future crisis, and uninvested TARP money is dedicated to reducing the debt.”

The U.S. budget deficit soared to a record $1.4 trillion in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30 and is expected to be about the same this fiscal year as the economic slump caused tax revenues to plunge and spending soared.

Budget experts project deficits will remain stubbornly high over the next 10 years even as the economy improves, which could lead to increased borrowing costs, further weakness in the U.S. dollar and runaway inflation.

But Geithner told CNBC that the government will borrow less because of the bank repayments.

“We are likely to have to borrow substantially less than we initially anticipated to help repair the damage to our financial system,” Geithner told CNBC in Singapore.

The Journal added that the projected long-term cost of TARP will likely be lowered from $341 billion to as little as $200 billionhttp://www.cnbc.com/id/33883098

I believe Rupert Murdock will give Dobbs an offer he can’t refuse. Who cares about Geraldo. It all about ratings and I believe Lou will blow Geraldo away with ratings. That’s whats important and nothing else.

The president won’t accept any of the war options before him without changes, a senior administration official said, as concerns soar over the ability of the Afghan government to secure its own country.

WASHINGTON — After months of deliberating, President Obama opted not to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

That stance comes in the midst of forceful reservations about a possible troop buildup from the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official.

In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Eikenberry, who once commanded forces in Afghanistan, resigned his Army commission to take the job as U.S. ambassador in Kabul earlier this year, and his is an influential voice among those advising President Barack Obama on Afghanistan.

Eikenberry sent multiple classified cables to Washington over the past week that question the wisdom of adding forces when the Afghan political situation is unstable and uncertain, said an official familiar with the cables. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations and the classified documents.

Cables are diplomatic messages that may or may not be classified and carry greater heft than other forms of communication such as e-mail.

Eikenberry made the point that the administration should step cautiously in planning for any troop buildup while there are still so many questions surrounding Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the official said. Eikenberry is the front line U.S. official dealing with Karzai, the U.S.-backed leader whose administration was stained by corruption and mismanagement. It was a visiting senior senator, Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts, who was instrumental in persuading Karzai last month to accept the findings of a U.N. panel that his re-election vote in August was too marred by fraud to stand.

Karzai agreed to a second round of voting but was elevated to a second term as president without a runoff election when his challenger dropped out. Since then, U.S. officials have been alarmed at some of Karzai’s remarks and the lack, so far, of meaningful steps to clean house.

Eikenberry’s objections were a wild card in the midst of what had appeared to be the final days of Obama’s long decision-making process on how to revamp U.S. strategy in the 8-year war. Eikenberry has participated in some of Obama’s war council sessions over the past several weeks.

Military officials said Obama has asked for a rewrite before and resisted what one official called a one-way highway toward war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s recommendations for more troops. The sense that he was being rushed and railroaded has stiffened Obama’s resolve to seek information and options beyond military planning, officials said, though a substantial troop increase is still likely.

The president was considering options that include adding 30,000 or more U.S. forces to take on the Taliban in key areas of Afghanistan and to buy time for the Afghan government’s small and ill-equipped fighting forces to take over. The other three options on the table Wednesday were ranges of troop increases, from a relatively small addition of forces to the roughly 40,000 that the top U.S. general in Afghanistan prefers, according to military and other officials.

The key sticking points appear to be timelines and mounting questions about the credibility of the Afghan government.

Administration officials said Wednesday that Obama wants to make it clear that the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan is not open-ended. The war is now in its ninth year and is claiming U.S. lives at a record pace as military leaders say the Taliban has the upper hand in many parts of the country.

Eikenberry, the top U.S. envoy to Kabul, is a prominent voice among those advising Obama, and his sharp dissent is sure to affect the equation. He retired from the Army this year to become one of the few generals in American history to switch directly from soldier to diplomat, and he himself is a recent, former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Eikenberry’s cables raise deep concern about the viability of the Karzai government, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with them who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the classified documents. Other administration officials raised the same misgivings in describing Obama’s hesitancy to accept any of the options before him in their current form.

The options presented to Obama by his war council will now be amended.

Military officials say one approach is a compromise battle plan that would add 30,000 or more U.S. forces atop a record 68,000 in the country now. They described it as “half and half,” meaning half fighting and half training and holding ground so the Afghans can regroup.

The White House says Obama has not made a final choice, though military and other officials have said he appears near to approving a slightly smaller increase than McChrystal wants at the outset.

Among the options for Obama would be ways to phase in additional troops, perhaps eventually equaling McChrystal’s full request, based on security or other conditions in Afghanistan and in response to pending decisions on troops levels by some U.S. allies fighting in Afghanistan.

The White House has chafed under criticism from Republicans and some outside critics that Obama is dragging his feet to make a decision.

Obama’s top military advisers have said they are comfortable with the pace of the process, and senior military officials have pointed out that the president still has time since no additional forces could begin flowing into Afghanistan until early next year.

Under the scenario featuring about 30,000 more troops, that number most likely would be assembled from three Army brigades and a Marine Corps contingent, plus a new headquarters operation that would be staffed by 7,000 or more troops, a senior military official said. There would be a heavy emphasis on the training of Afghan forces, and the reinforcements Obama sends could include thousands of U.S. military trainers.

Another official stressed that Obama is considering a range of possibilities for the military expansion and that his eventual decision will cover changes in U.S. approach beyond the addition of troops. The stepped-up training and partnership operation with Afghan forces would be part of that effort, the official said, although expansion of a better-trained Afghan force long has been part of the U.S objective and the key to an eventual U.S. and allied exit from the country.

With the Taliban-led insurgency expanding in size and ability, U.S. military strategy already has shifted to focus on heading off the fighters and protecting Afghan civilians. The evolving U.S. policy, already remapped early in Obama’s tenure, increasingly acknowledges that the insurgency can be blunted but not defeated outright by force.

Sam, whether you were drafted or volunteered you still served. You came home and were not killed. You never have to feel guilty about that. Yes the ones that lost their lives gave the ultimate sacrifice but they were planning to come home too. The lucky ones were the ones that came home. You are still a veteran and no one will be able to take that away from you.

CNN’s John King to replace Lou Dobbs as network’s 7 p.m. anchor after Dobbs’ abrupt exit

By Richard Huff
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR

Thursday, November 12th 2009, 10:55 AM

John King, CNN’s chief national correspondent, will replace Lou Dobbs as the network’s 7 p.m. anchor after Dobbs quit.

CNN has tapped John King to replace Lou Dobbs as the network’s 7 p.m. anchor.

King, the network’s chief national correspondent and the go-to guy on politics there, will take over the 7 p.m. show early next year.

“The program will reflect what CNN is all about: straight facts from our anchors and the widest range of opinions from across the political spectrum,” CNN president Jonathan Klein said in a statement Thursday morning.

King has been at CNN since 1997, and its chief national correspondent since 2005. He really emerged during the 2008 campaign as a political expert and gained attention for using CNN’s “magic wall” to display voting patterns and information during the run-up and through Election night.

“There is a lot of noise and conflict in our political discourse,” King said in a statement, “which is fun to cover but I’m convinced from my travels that people also thirst for more details as well as insight and context.”

CNN officials announced King was getting the job the morning after Dobbs stunned the TV world by revealing that after nearly 30 years at CNN, he was leaving for good.

Dobbs told viewers Wednesday he was leaving to work in other areas.

“Over the past six months, it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us,” Dobbs told viewers. “And some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond my role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving, as well as to contribute positively to a better understanding of the great issues of our day. And to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible.”

He said CNN had agreed to let him out of his contract, believed to run through 2011, to pursue that field. He said he was considering a number of options.

The immediate speculation was that the controversial anchor, who has taken a hard stand on immigration issues, would land at the Fox News Channel, which has thrived in prime-time with opinionated hosts.

Fox officials said Wednesday night the network was not in discussions with Dobbs for either FNC or the Fox Business Network.

CNN is billing King’s new show a “definitive political hour” that goes beyond the surface of the day’s news.

“Every night,” Klein said, “he’ll share his passion and his insights about what is really going on in Washington and across America.”

President Obama took time Thursday — before jetting off to Asia for a 10-day tour — to announce a December jobs summit aimed at synching job growth with the massive government spending meant to “break the back” of the recession.

The announcement came as the Labor Department reported another 502,000 new jobless claims, two high-tech mainstays announced big layoffs and the unemployment rate reached 10.2 percent.

Obama said the White House forum will gather CEOs, small business owners, economists, financial experts and representatives from labor unions and nonprofit groups “to talk about how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again.”

“We all know that there are limits to what government can and should do, even during such difficult times. But we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible step that we can take to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country,” he said.

He added that the forum is intended to prevent making “any ill-considered decisions — even with the best intentions — particularly at a time when our resources are so limited. But it’s just as important that we are open to any demonstrably good idea to supplement the steps we’ve already taken to put America back to work.”

Nearly 16 million people are unemployed, and the economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, triggering the 10.2 percent unemployment rate. Microsoft announced last week that it is dropping 800 jobs.

Obama last week signed a $24 billion economic stimulus bill that will extend unemployment benefits for up to 20 additional weeks — an extension he said will help more than 1 million Americans.

Despite claiming credit for cutting middle class taxes and creating or saving more than 1 million jobs through the $787 billion stimulus plan signed in February, Obama said, more is needed to “encourage and accelerate job creation”

“The economic growth that we’ve seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need,” Obama said.

“This is one of the great challenges that remains in our economy — a challenge that my administration is determined to meet,” he added.

Next month’s summit will be the 12th Obama has hosted or attended since assuming the presidency, not counting a July “beer summit” aimed to tamp down a racially tinged dispute between Harvard Professor Henry Gates and Cambridge, Mass., Police Sgt. James Crowley, who arrested Gates in his home after reports of a break-in.

At the White House, Obama held a fiscal responsibility summit in February, a health care summit in March and an Afghan-Pakistan summit in May. He has also attended G20 and G-8 meetings abroad as well as attended Russia, Mexico, NATO and Americas summits.

Because economic prosperity at home is tied to economies around the world, the president said he plans to talk about a strategy for growth with leaders while he is in Asia in the coming week.

“Prosperity around the world is no longer as dependent on American consumption and borrowing, but rather more on American innovation and products,” he said.

Last week’s dismal unemployment report showed that job losses remain widespread across many industries. Manufacturers eliminated a net total of 61,000 jobs, the most in four months. Construction shed 62,000 jobs, down slightly from the previous month.

Retailers, the financial sector and leisure and hospitality companies all continued to reduce payrolls. The economy has lost a net total of 7.3 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007.

The average work week was unchanged at 33 hours, a disappointment because employers are expected to add more hours for current workers before they begin hiring new ones.

Professional and business services companies, however, added 18,000 jobs. And temporary employment grew by 33,700 jobs, after losing positions for months.

Obama’s totally cluelessness and over his head-ness is glaring brighter and brighter as are memories of his strutting asshat statements about how his stimulus bill will save 3 to 4 million jobs as conservatives explained the spending targets would do the opposite and just extend the recession while adding to the deficit.

The MOONBAT-IN-CHIEF is running low on fuel now… har-har-har

samiam60 says

If we are lucky the Chinese will kidnap Obama and hold him ransom.

Of course they would have to lend us the money to pay the ransom.

Or, maybe we could let him work it off over there, you know where the jobs are?

Obama can run off to Aisa and repeat worn out phrases from his teleprompter but the bloom is off the rose now… and he is not looking so hot… folks who give an asshat like Obama the benefit of the doubt eventually run out of patience as we approach the end of the year.

Once the new year comes and goes, many “give him a chance-ers” are going to let ‘er rip…

Meanwhile, Obama announces no decision on making a decision on deciding on Afghanistan… leaving the Military holding the bag with too few soldiers doing too much with too little.

Army officials this afternoon will charge Maj. Nidal M. Hasan with 13 counts of premeditated murder in last Thursday’s killing of 12 soldiers and a civilian at Fort Hood, Tex., according to an Army official.

In an attempt to regain the millions in funding it lost in the wake of a hidden-camera scandal, ACORN is suing the federal government over congressional legislation that cut off funding to the community organizing group.

Representatives for ACORN sued the federal government Thursday morning in an attempt to regain the millions of dollars in funding the community organizing group lost after filmmakers videotaped its workers offering advice on how to commit tax fraud and various other felonies.

The suit charges Congress with violating the Constitution when it passed legislation in September that specifically targeted ACORN to lose federal housing, education and transportation funds.

That qualifies the legislation as bills of attainder, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of ACORN. A bill of attainder punishes a person or group without the benefit of a trial, and is illegal under Article 1 of the Constitution.

Congress began cracking down on its funding to ACORN after its employees were secretly videotaped in a number of cities offering to help a man and woman posing as a pimp and prostitute to lie to the IRS and acquire illegal home loans.

Footage showed staffers advising the “pimp” and “prostitute” on how to falsify tax forms and seek illegal benefits for 13 “very young” girls from El Salvador that the pair said they wanted to bring to the country to work as child prostitutes. The videos set off a firestorm in Congress.

ACORN pledged an internal inquiry and fired the staffers who were caught on tape, but it was only the latest of many legal troubles for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

State investigators raided ACORN offices in Louisiana last week, seizing computer hard drives and documents in a probe of alleged embezzlement and tax fraud. Staffers in multiple states have been accused of committing voter registration fraud.

Congress took the “prostitute” videos as clear evidence of systematic problems within ACORN and voted with bipartisan support in the House and Senate to freeze funding for the group in appropriations bills in September.

Thursday’s lawsuit claims that Congress violated the right to due process enshrined in the Fifth Amendment — declaring the group guilty of a crime and punishing its members without completing an investigation within the Department of Justice or the IRS.

“It’s not the job of Congress to be the judge, jury, and executioner,” said Jules Lobel, an attorney representing the Center for Constitutional Rights.

“We have due process in this country, and our Constitution forbids lawmakers from singling out a person or group for punishment without a fair investigation and trial.”

The lawsuit itself singles out three defendants — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Director of the Office of Management and the Budget Peter Orszag, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.

The three were responsible for facilitating the defunding of ACORN by Congress, according to attorneys for the Center for Constitutional Rights.

ACORN claims it has been badly hurt by the congressional actions, and has had to fire workers and close some of its 1,200 branches around the country.

Though it remains unclear precisely how much money the national organization was receiving from federal sources and aid programs, a lawyer pressing the suit said ACORN has already lost an amount “in the millions” since the freeze took effect.